Health information technology and physicians' perceptions of healthcare quality

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the use of health information technology (HIT) and physician perceptions of providing high-quality care and to determine whether this relationship has changed over time. Study Design: We used 2 waves of longitudinal data from the Community Tracking Study Physician Surveys, 2000-2001 and 2004-2005. Methods: Three measures of HIT were examined: a binary variable measuring the use of at least 1 type of HIT, a continuous variable measuring the total number of HIT types, and a binary variable measuring use of all 5 HIT types related to "meaningful use" of HIT as defined by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Three multivariate models were estimated to study the effect of each HIT measure on physicians' perception of providing high-quality care. Individual fixed-effects esti? mation also was used to control for individual time-invariant factors. Results: Using at least 1 type of HIT significantly enhanced physicians' perception of providing high-quality care in 2000-2001, but not in 2004-2005. The marginal effect of adding 1 extra HIT type was positive and statistically significant in both periods. The association between using all 5 HIT types related to meaningful use and perceived quality was statistically significant in 2000-2001, but not in 2004-2005. Conclusions: Health information technology has become a multifunctional system and appears to have enhanced physicians' perception of providing high-quality care. Physicians' perceptions of medical care quality improved as the number of HIT types used increased. This study supports more extensive use of HIT in physician practices.